Boomtown 2: Bannon: 'Aspirational' Food Stamps 'Break Down' DNA of Self-Reliance

The United States government spends $75 billion a year on food stamps, and Breitbart News Executive Chairman Stephen K. Bannon said Government Accountability Institute President Peter Schweizer said the government, working with corporations that profit from the program, wants to put more Americans on food stamps to “break down” their self-reliance and keep them dependent. 

Appearing on the Fox News special, “Boomtown 2: The Business of Food Stamps,” on “Hannity” on Friday, Bannon and Schweizer said the government not only wants to eliminate any stigma associated with food stamps but also, as Bannon said, portray the program as an “aspirational lifestyle” by making food stamps more mainstream and widespread. 

Bannon said the federal government is trying to “break down the DNA in America of self-reliance and self- determination” to get more people on government programs.  He noted when food stamps become “aspirational,” the program becomes detrimental 

Schweizer said the federal government is “no different than Madison Avenue,” and noted how successfully the government has created demand for food stamps, as enrollment in the program has doubled the last decade in New York and nationwide during Obama’s first term. 

He said the government does not want to issue EBT cards with photo IDs so recipients are not stigmatized and has even commended Jefferson, North Carolina for taking away people’s “mountain pride” and increasing food stamp enrollments by 10%. 

“Let’s take away ‘mountain pride,’ and break down people’s self-reliance,” Bannon said, referring to what he believed was the ultimate end game. 

He said “big companies with advanced marketing techniques” help government convince people who may not even want to go on food stamps to take them. Schweizer agreed. 

“You have people that are being resistant, but they are saying, ‘don’t be resistant, sign up,”’ Schweizer said. “Nobody is representing the taxpayers.”

Schweizer noted that the government has spent nearly $15 trillion on anti-poverty programs since the 1960s, but the poverty rate has not changed since then and the underclass has “become constant and dependent” on government.